As another book in the Themes in Canadian Social History series,
this volume explores the history of Canadian families during a time
period which saw an industrial revolution, World War I, and the Great
Depression. Comacchio uses these larger historical events to trace and
explain continuity and change in the lives of Canadian families, arguing
that these events were "punctuation points" (p. 149) that
effected the ways in which families constructed and reconstructed themselves.
However, the author acknowledges that the historical path of family
life cannot be examined in a linear fashion because there has never
been one 'kind' of family. She claims that while family is "universal"
in that all cultures have constructs known as 'family', families are
also "unique" in that they emerge out of a mix of factors,
including: "...class, gender, region, race, ethnicity, religion
and age..."(p. 5). Hence, in tracing continuity and change in families,
the author takes into consideration all of the kinds of families found
within Canadian society, including: working and middle class families,
French Canadian families, Aboriginal families, Anglo-Celtic families,
African Canadian families, long-settled families and recently immigrated
families.
Though Comacchio has made a solid effort to affirm the complexity
of domestic life, she was unable to resist imposing a type of unity
on her work. In formulating a focus for the book, she claims that: "...
if there is one thread that winds unbroken through this era of rapid
and intensive change, it is a widespread public perception that 'the
family' was in a state of crisis" (p. 4). With this focus, the
author is able to demonstrate how the notion 'families in crisis' helped
to shape Canadian social policy, proving her claim that families both
effect and are effected by society. However, because this idea actually
emerged out of the middle class, the 'families in crisis' thesis creates
difficulties for Comacchio. This social group constructed and promoted
the notion of the 'ideal' family and then perceived that families were
in crisis because of the dissonance between real families and the idealized
family, a dissonance which became most extreme when real families were
impacted by events like economic change and warfare. Comacchio indicates
that she will trace continuity and change among all kinds of Canadian
families, as well as tracing the impact of the perceptions of the middle
classes on families belonging to other social groups. Hence, in attempting
to create a unified focus or thesis, the author compounds her already
complicated task.
While this type of complex examination is laudable, the length, depth,
and breadth of this book is limited by restrictions placed upon it because
it is designed to provide an overview of a particular theme in Canadian
social history for undergraduate and graduate students. In creating
this overview, the author did not engage in original research, but rather
created a synthesis of the scholarly studies investigating the history
of Canadian families undertaken over the last two decades. The main
purpose in compiling this book, as stated on the back cover, was to
"...pull together a large body of research and lay out the main
themes and interpretations...", rather than to explore complexities.
It is from the imposition of this main purpose that the main criticisms
arise.
The attempt to create a synopsis of important themes, while trying to
acknowledge the complexity of the lives of families, leaves the reader
with a sense of frustration. This arises from the lack of in-depth discussion
of important and enticing information. For example, the discussion of
the impact of industrialization on Canadian families is disjointed.
Over the space of only a few pages, such topics as housing, income levels,
poverty, racism, widows, orphans, health, disease, and old age are given
coverage, with only a paragraph or part of a paragraph devoted to each
(pp. 28- 30) . This lack of depth is an irritation.
Added to this, is that fact that the reader is rarely taken 'inside'
the lives of Canadian families. While there are occasions where the
author includes a direct quote from a family member, allowing some insight
into how a family viewed the world, the book generally examines domestic
life from an 'outside' viewpoint. We receive a variety of statistics,
for example, describing aspects of the changing role of women: in 1860,
one in five middle-class housewives had regular paid help, while in
1921 only one in twenty housewives had this kind of help (p. 81). However,
we do not hear the voices of women themselves discussing their personal
views about housework, children, or husbands. In taking the 'observer'
point of view, the book is able to point out major themes, but it lacks
intimate, personal insights which seem especially important in understanding
the histories of families.
Finally, there are no citations indicating the specific sources from
which statistical information or direct quotations were extracted. This
is not only irritating, but is poor scholarship as well. Without appropriate
citations the reader is unable to identify the particular historical
study the author consulted when creating statements of fact and arguments.
While there is a reference section listing the titles of the sources
used for each chapter, the lack of citations makes this book a bad example
for use with undergraduate and graduate students, who should be learning
to indicate the sources from which information and evidence is derived.
The main criticisms arise from what appears to be the format required
of books that are part of the Themes in Canadian Social History
series. The author is attempting to accomplish an extremely complex
task, but seems to be required to do this using an undocumented, overview
approach. This being said, Comacchio must be given credit for attempting
to tell an inclusive, multilayered story about Canadian families who
lived between 1850 and 1940. While the book does not have practical
value for classroom teachers, it is accessible to both secondary and
post-secondary readers providing insight into topics and issues that
could spark an interest to further explore the historical lives of Canadian
families.